Book Review : Angels and Demons

Hahaha, whoa.. Who is this guy to write a review of one of the most successful and critically acclaimed book by Dan Brown. I know, I am no one, but I could not stop myself penning down the feelings immediately after reading this book, And here I go !
569 pages and around 14 hrs spanning across 5 days, thats what it took for me to read this fiction. I was in deep clutches of the plot wherein the characters and the mystery kept unfolding with every chapter bringing a new one every time along with. I kept talking about this for the entire week when I was into it and I am certain this is going to have an everlasting impression on every reader of it. The charisma was so great that while reading it, I was in no mood of doing anything, even the essentials took a back seat.
With The Da Vinci Code already in attire along with its screen version , I could visualise Tom Hankes as Mr Robert Langdon, the Harvard symbology art scholar and the hero of the thriller. Although, I can easily say that even if I would have been unknown to any of the other works of Brown, I would have visualised the entire book with equal ease.
With Antimatter, the author's usage of science was put to a test, however Brown's genius levelled all the barracades quite comfortably. With no doubts on the in depth knowledge of Vatican history, Brown depicted a real picture of the marvellous architecture of the city along with its pen piucture of Swiss guards and cardinals, so true as to be come out of the pages of the book and stand infront of you showing their full vigor. At the same time, the layout of the city of Rome and the four churches symbolising the basic elements of Illuminati, the secret self enlightened sect presented a treasure hunt to every reader forcing one to go to Google Maps and check & confirm the same. I could not stop myself reading the wiki of Galileo and Bernini, the so believed Illuminati masters while reading the book. I also read about Professor Langdonn & came to know that the on screen name 'Robert' was actually pointing to the Drexel professor John langdon, an expert at ambigrams. Ofcourse not to mention the spectular ambigrams of Illuminati, Earth, Air, Fire and Water along with the Illuminatus diamond. I bet everyone who read the book would have tried drawing one. I also recorded for my own personal interest, the speech given by Cameralango to the BBC reporter at the hour of ultimate crisis.
I initially had 3 people (not mentioning their names for the sake of those who have not yet read) in mind as Janus, the mastermind behind the entire conspiracy. The third ( least probable one) was removed quite early though,when he died. However, I must admit that the actual one was my second bet, and when it was revealed and the way in which it was, made perfect sense to me. It left no doubt about the motto behind the plot and the adjustment made in the same by Janus to achieve the destination.
With my second nature of finding the alternative ending or should I say no ending to any story, I analysed the entire book after finishing the same for few minutes wherein I concluded that if the deceased pope would have used object/ task based gramar in his conversation rather than subject based, the story would have had no beginning itself. There would have had no shattered confidence in faith and no science overtaking God and there would have had no Angels and Demons for us. Dan did an excellent job by din't doing it. Overall, it is one of that book which made me satifisfied from within, the one which put my heart and brain cells to equal use and the one which I can tell anyone around me to read and feel contented.

For more curious folowers of Brown, here is a link to the trailer of the movie based on the same novel supposed to release in May' 09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd5v4yW-RKg

0ne night @ Atlanta Airport

Heading for the United Airways flight to Charlotte at 8:10 pm on a sunny day of Oct 6th & bound for Lexington for a business trip, I started from my office in Alpharetta at 5 for my home.
Dressed, had a cup of tea and headed for Airport at 5:30. The Airport is 45 miles from my place and I was sure that even in the worst of traffic, I would be able to make it in time & so did I.

I reached Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta Int'nl Airport at 7:15 pm, got security clearance by 7:30 and was at US airways terminal (Concourse D, Gate 26) by 7:45 pm. Just 100 meters before the terminal was my fav Chili’s. Quite tempted and thinking of getting no dinner at midnight when I will reach Lexington, I thought of grabbing something quickly. However once I reached there, the idea shifted from take away to dine in. I knew that I had only 15 minutes to dine, but still hopeful of making it, I stood in the queue for getting in the restaurant. There I met a lady who was greeting everyone in the queue. She was quite obese but upon talking to her about my veggie habits, she mentioned that she has also turned veggie for reducing herself. She added that daily meat diet at Burger King has made her such. She was quite joy to talk to and I really enjoyed those 2 minutes laughing and exploring new views on being a vegetarian.

I was served by a Malay lady to whom I asked for a home salad and French fries with lemonade. It was 7:50 pm when I was served. Thinking, I still have plenty time to make it to my flight, which was around 15 minutes, I ate watching AFL. At 8 pm I asked for the cheque and with few happy moments of eating something, though not the greatest of foods, I rushed for the gate 26. To my surprise there wasn’t anyone there except the on ground staff of United Airways. I still had no hopes lost since I could see the carrier still outside. Quite unaware of the fact that the gate actually closes 10 minutes prior to the departure and that entry is prohibited after that, I asked the lady to guide me for the flight. At that my thoughts came to a halt when I realized I have missed it..She said that they announced my name quite a time and that they cannot help me except booking me for the next flight which is at 5:30 am in the morning. I was perplexed as to what to do now, I had to give a presentation at 10 am in morning and the next flight is going to land me on Lexington soil at 8:50 am. I will hardly have anytime to reach to Hotel and get ready for the presentation which I was sure going to be a 2+ hours long. Along with that came the thoughts of spending the entire night at airport since I could not afford to go to a Hotel and miss my flight for the 2nd time as getting ready by 5 am in the morning was itself a daunting task.
Apart from that I was getting angry to myself for having that salad in chilies which costed me such an inconvenient night. With a second thought of trying to reach Customer care to see if they can accommodate me in any other carrier (Delta had one for Lexington at 9:30 pm). However it was a very costly affair since they could not transfer me directly to other carrier and that my (my company's) ticket for United will be wasted (costing around 750 $ for a return fare) and would have to give around 700$ one way for Delta. I decided wisely and went back to the United crew and asked them to book me for the 5:30 am flight. I consoled myself by saying that it is going to be an exciting journey for sure now and the rest was although not great was something different for me.

I found myself a seat near a power outlet so as to charge my lappie and cell phone as I was sure of making their max use this night. Also, I was carrying few of my GMAT exercises to be given, which I instantly planned to give tonight. Didn’t wanna tell this to anyone for a moment so got engrossed in GMAT exercise. However in 15 minutes, I got bored and started wandering around, a teenage girl was talking to some of her friend on the phone booth very near to my seat. With an unintentional eavesdropping, I came to realize that she is also one of my kinds today, she sat beside me after finishing her call and I could not stop confirming about her situation and hence asked her about it. Therein, she told me that she has missed due to wrong terminal map and that she has been given a next flight at 10:30. However, she consoled me by saying it feels relieving when you know that you're not the only one who has missed. I really laughed at that, getting consoled at the same time. After she left, I called up my friend back in Alpharetta to inform that I have missed. However I could not tell them the exact reason for the same more because was not still convinced that I missed my flight. Talked to my fiancée back in India and told her about the same. She, like my other friends, expressed her concerns about spending night at airport but at the same time laughed also upon my mentioning the reason for the same. I eventually decided to content it to myself.

Thinking of the 7 long hours still ahead of me before seating in the plane, I recalled the desert survival game played in ILP & checked all the options and essentials. Instantly I stood up and went to Chilies again before it gets closed. Quite contrary to the previous time, I opted for a take away this time. Took the traditional chips and chili sauce from them and went back to my seat. The water bottle I was carrying was enough for the night. I started eating some of it while watching the same AFL, live from Philips Arena. Eventually after eating a few, I got bored of it, more since I never used to dine alone, I decided to stop eating and do some internet surfing. Also was on my minds the tomorrow's presentation and the impact my spending the night at Airport will make on the same, There was no free internet connectivity, so I thought for first checking the presentation I had to give, I also informed about the incidence to the manager at Lexington, so as to keep him ready with backup plans. I went through the presentation once and decided to go back to my GMAT exercise. Did like 60 Questions on Data Sufficiency in an hour when I saw a crowd full of Airport maintenance staff around the area where I was seated, the Gate 26 of Concourse D

I could not understand what this lot of people, around 30 of them all with Red T-shirts, was doing there. Then came to know that it is their usual place of gathering since there was a room to keep all their belongings/ equipments just opposite to this part of Airport. They were quite aloud in their conversation and were in plenty, I initially was amazed, somewhat scared later on and eventually got back to my work thinking that I might be there usual stuff. I was for sure had no Enochiophobia. However I could not focus anymore on the math questions and decided otherwise, It was already 11:45 and I decided to give a call to my parents and talked to them for long, With excitement I called up my dearest buddy and informed him about the same, Quite natural to our relation, he gave me all the teasers of being a gujju, worrying about eating more than anything else etc. it was a nice little talk which cleared my brain and ticked the sleeping alarm of my mind. Therein began my hunt for a suitable place to sleep. I had no expectations of getting a cozy 4 star hotel room as was booked for me in Lexington, but still had my hopes high to get something worth lying upon. Could not find anything except a deserted cluster of chairs without any partitions at gate 24. I decided to use my bag pack as a pillow and thought of spending some hours trying to sleep. I put all kind of alarms to be sure of not waiting any more after 5:30.am. I almost woke up every hour and tried to check my watch and eventually at 4 am got up and decided to spare the rest of few minutes at gate 26 itself.
The new day saw no unforeseen incidences, I reached at 8:45 am and quite adeptly got ready and reached the conference room by 10 am, It was my first visit to Lexington and everyone I interacted with on phone were strangers to me but the moment I entered the room wherein everyone was waiting on me became quite a good scene, The presentation lasted for > 3 hrs and was awesome. In the eve I was back on my way to Atlanta. At 10 pm I reached Atlanta, looking back at the terminal where I spent my night the other day.
All in all, the day was a happening one with me boarding 4 flights a day to fulfill what I was supposed to !

The XAM Consternation

For a person who has always been phenomenal at studies and cracking exams, it was quite an absurd to think about consternation for exams. But when you will take a deeper look on the psychology of such a person, it is the one who has the maximum fear of it. The reason is quite simple, more you are aware of the potential roadblocks in the success, more you assess them for failure and in the process increase your fear for the things that may not happen in reality. However, in my case I do analyze all the situations with utmost importance to its probability of occurrence also, but I really find it as a challenge to prove myself when such a calamity occurs and I put my max efforts therein to come out as a winner
Well, a similar kind of scenario happened to me when I went to give GMAT. It was a sunny day with no chance of any thunderstorms, or heavy rains at all. I had to reach 30 min prior to the exam time of 4:30 pm on a Friday. Quite satisfied with the timings I chose for the exam, I decided to start from home at 2 pm for a 10 mile trip to Pearson exam Center. While commuting by GA 400 freeway, the Google estimated a total time of 23 min. I still thought of taking 30 minutes as was wondering what I will do reaching so early to the center. Still I did not wanted to spend my time at home doing nothing as I stopped studying a day back itself and was doing office work till 1:30 pm.

I had my lunch at 1, took a shower and got dressed up by 2, started at 2:15 pm from home. I borrowed GPS navigator from one of my friend to make sure that I reach proper destination. With excitement in my mind of cracking it and to get a good score, at least the one I used to get in mocks, I pressed Gas and the 2008 Honda civic was on the roads. I also was thinking about all the times I will enjoy after giving the exam as I was out of reach of dear ones for quite a week now, Also was in my mind, my friend who has come down from NC to stay with me for some time and today being his first day, I should have been with him more than any other day. In 5 minutes, I was on GA 400 freeway heading south for Dunwoody.

I entered the freeway from exit 11 and barely reached exit 10 wherein I noticed the brakes sign of every car in front of me. I was amazed and also was concerned with such a heavy traffic on the road with no car driving at more than 10 mph. eventually the speed kept decreasing with every yard and the vehicle got to a halt at around exit 9, me being in the right most lanes. The sirens of Ambulance, Police cabs and Fire Brigade were the next to come. The Doppler effect of the same came to a stationary level at a distance of around 1 mile from where I was. I sensed some kind of accident ahead and thought of it as a temporary situation. With all high hopes on US police capabilities of clearing the scene quickly, I checked my watch which showed 2:45 pm. With 7.5 more miles to go according to GPS and more than 1.5 hours in hand, I was easing out and tuned the radio to hip-hops. The wait time kept on increasing and now it was 3:15 and I could see the signs for exit 8 around 500 meters away.

Although was quite hesitant to take to state roads, I decided to give this a try since there was no movement yet on freeway and also I had my navigator with me to help me out with the directions. I drank some water and adeptly crossed 3 lanes and came in exit lane. The road was full of thousands of others like me and the situation looked worse here with a traffic signal at every half a mile on average. Struggling to reach on time, I kept trying whatever I could. I also tried to keep checking with my GPS navigator about shortest distance/ fastest time etc options but with no success. The final distance on the state route has increased from 7 miles now to 8 miles. I also tried with all my analytical capabilities to understand roads, which no doubt is good, and I successfully was able to commute for 1 mile on a deserted road parallel to the crowded street. But I eventually had to merge with the main street of Alpharetta highway/State route 9 and could not help myself but wait. I also, in my efforts to reach on time and to avoid traffic, took myself in every mall which had an exit opening even after 100 meters; this helped me save few but precious minutes. At this time I told myself, that it is really my time, the stage is all set for me to prove myself. I already got the challenging situation to prove myself. The exam more than anything else needed concentration of mind, and this incidence of today was more than enough for anyone to shatter the confidence.

Eventually at 4:15 pm, I was still 6 miles away from my exam center and in desperation called my friend who advised me to connect to the center and let them know of my situation. This was a wise advice and I followed it immediately. The guy who responded was quite calm and listened to me patiently and confirmed my admission if I reach the center by 5, and will have to decide at the time only if I reach after 5 pm. I assured myself that I can reach now and can make it before 5 for sure. I drove for 15 more minutes and crossed around 1 mile on that busy road. By luck or by chance, I could see now an open road ahead and I just could not stop myself pressing thru gas as hard as I could. The Civic float like air on that open road and I could just feel that excitement again. At 4:35, I was at my destination according to GPS; however I could not find the center anywhere. In the despair, I asked a guy to help me out but he was apparently new to the place as well. I again checked my navigator and this time it told me to drive 1 more mile. I was disappointed with the performance of the machine but eventually consoled myself saying after all that is bound to make some error. At 4:40 , I was in the parking and rushed to the building, As was in a hurry, instead of checking the directions to the center, I thought it wise to ask a lady who was just passing by, she took me to the directory and guided me for the 5th floor. At 4:45, I was in center and in front of the receptionist, believing I really made it and now it is on me to make this a worthwhile day.

I am not sure how many times I drove the new Honda Civic on the curb today, I am not sure how many times luck favored me today, I am not sure whether my decision of taking it to a state road was good or not, but as it turned out at the end, I did everything on time and was out with flying colors. It was truly the Neophyte's serendipity that I observed for myself today.